


Trebled

by 4racha



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Asexual Woojin, M/M, Minor Park Jisoo | Jihyo/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Synesthesia, felix and changbin are both music majors, hyunsung are dumb but theyre doing their best, jeongins a little shit whos good at video games, piss drunk hyunjin and jisung (youre welcome), woojin just wants to get enough rest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-10
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2020-11-28 20:34:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20972642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/4racha/pseuds/4racha
Summary: Felix can hear colours. And he wants to know who is the owner of that beautiful orange voice.





	Trebled

**Author's Note:**

> This is prompt #A6.

It’s a typical Tuesday. Felix is rushing to head over to the music departments to find an unoccupied practice room at eleven in the morning. It’s a terrible time since almost every music major has a break around this time and almost every room is taken already. Felix seemed to fall into this rut every time regardless. As he ran up the stairs—heaving, since physique is not his strong suit—he quickly ran down the hallway to see if any room was available, gripping his instrument case tightly.

He began to gradually walk slowly as he saw different colours streaming out from the rooms he was passing. Felix smiled to himself. He liked how the colours blended together and practically danced with each other as some other students were playing their duets and trios while others were playing solo. He likes how beautiful the sounds literally look because Felix saw them differently than the others.

—

He wasn’t sure when it began—assuming that he was born with it— that he noticed how the different colours started filling the air so vividly whenever his music teacher in primary school began to sing or when she played the piano. But he remembers that he seemed to be the only one entranced by the colours that were filling the air. It was a light blue, he recalled. Her voice was almost as delicate and light as the morning sky with a hint of light touches of green. It was beautiful. Felix thought his teacher’s voice not only sounded beautiful, it  _ looked _ beautiful.

Felix began to let his eyes and ears cooperate whenever it came to sounds, especially music. It was only fitting that he went through the musical academia route from post-primary school all the way to his university education. He decided to start and continue with his violin. He started when he was about eight—much to his own dismay—when his mother enrolled him into private lessons. However, he is thankful that his family continued to push him with practicing and lessons as he eventually started to fall in love with it. 

His trusty violin was his most prized possession, as if it was an extension of his own body. He used it for all of his auditions and orchestra performances, despite being offered multiple newer and supposedly “more beautiful” sounding. Felix always declined. Truthfully, the main reason why he stuck with it was because he loved the sound of his violin. Sure, Felix thought the other violins had beautiful colours that filled the air when played, but they didn’t compare to his.

His violin was special. The vibrations, pizzicato, slurs: they all just sounded  _ special _ to him for some reason. He’s not sure why exactly, but the colours it produced were very warm. Rather than a single colour—that most violins produce—there were three specific colours that poured out from his. 

There was a warm and vibrant red: it was passionate, it was bold, and it was confident. Though Felix was shy himself, he was glad that his violin could speak loudly for the two of them. There was a soft and mellow yellow: it was tranquil, it was soothing, it was a peacemaker. He loved how both the red and yellow contrasted yet united with each other.

The last colour, however, was probably his favourite. It was an orange: a love-child of the other two colours. Though it was not as bold as the red nor as tranquil as the yellow, it was very unique on account it was Felix’s favourite colour. It was a perfect blend of two opposing forces and Felix loved whenever the colour popped up during his practice time. It doesn’t show up as often as he would like it to because the orange only fills the air whenever the red and yellow sounds work harmoniously together. And by doing so, Felix knows that he nailed the music piece he was working on.

Over the years, he realized that while watching his colleagues play, that nobody else could produce that orange sound. Yes, he found some students who let out an orange sound whether it be their voice or from their instrument, but his orange was  _ different _ . It seemed incomparable to any other sound he’s heard from anyone, all the more made him truly love the colour.

—

Felix managed to find a vacant practice room, only to find his other friend, Changbin, in it. He whined, making Changbin turn to the direction of the door and scrunch his nose. “Well, hello to you too,” he replied. 

Changbin was nice enough to let Felix stay with him in the room since Changbin was only there working on his laptop with the occasional chord playing on the piano. He respected Felix’s practice time enough to not play simultaneously with him. “Why are you wasting this room?” Felix asked as he put his violin case down and unzipped it.

Turning around Changbin pouted. “A little ‘thank you’ would be nice too. I have every right to kick you out.”

“And I have every right to kick  _ you _ out since you aren’t even a performance major,” Felix barked back as he was applying the rosin onto the hairs of his bow. 

Changbin rolled his eyes and went back to his work. He had his laptop on a separate chair beside him as he had one hand on its keyboard and one hand on the piano keys. “For the record,” he hummed, “at least I’m in this department.”

Felix ignored him. After attaching his kun to the back of his violin, he placed the shoulder rest comfortable on his shoulder and laid his chin on the chin rest. It felt natural: this mundane sensation. Yet, Felix never seemed to get tired or bored of it. In fact, it felt electrifying. He started tuning his strings with the pegs at the end of the violin and hummed the notes to himself. He saw the hints of yellows and reds that seemed muted or too vibrant—a sign that the instrument was slightly out of tune.

Too into his tuning process, he didn’t seem to notice Changbin look at him proudly. Changbin knew his friend was talented and had special “powers” (as their friend, Hyunjin, would call it), and he admired how hard-working and dedicated Felix was to his gift.

Felix just started warming up with a few scales and shifting positions when Minho barged into the room unexpectedly. Shocked, Felix jumped back, squealing as he dropped his bow and held his violin close to his chest. 

Minho laughed at the sight while Changbin groaned and leaned back in his chair annoyed while looking at Minho. “Dude!”

Minho’s laughter died down as he pretended to wipe a tear from his eye. “I’m sorry,” he chuckled. “Well, no not really,” he admitted, “but I came by to say SGA is handing out free lunches today.”

After composing himself along with his violin that he held between his underarm and side, Felix blinked. “Okay, and?”

“Did you not hear me?  _ FREE  _ lunch,” Minho reiterated. “We should go now so we don’t beat the lunch rush hour.” Without a second to let them rebuttal nor question him, Minho grabbed Changbin and Felix’s arms and pulled them out of the practice room.

“My laptop!”

“And my violin!” 

Changbin and Felix shouted respectively, upset at how their older friend ignored their cries.

“Oh, relax!” Minho hummed calmly. “Nobody’s going to steal your precious valuables. I got Woojin hyung to watch my stuff in the dance studio, I’ll tell him to collect your stuff too. I said I’d get him a free lunch as well.”

Seeing that there was no way out of this, Changbin and Felix looked at each other and sighed in acceptance of their fate. They walked out of the music department towards the student center in the heart of the campus.

It was a beautiful day outside. While Changbin and Minho were catching up, Felix was in his own world. It’s not that he went out a lot (actually, he rarely went out omit the times he moved to classes and then back to his dorm room), but Felix never stopped to enjoy the campus atmosphere. Always in a rush, this was new for him to see the sounds around him.

The birds were chirping and flying from tree to tree when they were walking alongside the greenery and gave off a pinkish-purple pastel colour. It was beautiful, it stood out amongst the natural colours the campus offered. He heard a few grass cutters in the distance, which surprisingly let a colour into the atmosphere as well: it was a brownish-grey hue that was stark, like the pizzicato Felix played on his violin. 

He was so entranced that he almost bumped into the closed glass door that Changbin was about to open. Changbin snickered, causing Felix’s cheeks to blush embarrassed before the three of them entered. Fortunately, there were only a dozen or so people in front of them in line when they got to the SGA event table in the food court area.

“Oh thank goodness,” Minho sighed in relief, holding his stomach and rubbing it. “If there were more than twenty people in front of us, I might have screamed.”

“I think you would have screamed regardless,” Felix commented, earning a laugh from Changbin and a half-ass laugh from Minho. The three friends continued to talk amongst themselves as they scooted closer and closer to the SGA table. 

As they reached the front, Minho put on his best dashing smile as the SGA council member in front of him gave him a deadpan glare. "Oh, that's no way to greet a student, Jihyo," Minho hummed, a slight tease in his tone.

"I'm not greeting a student, I'm greeting you," Jihyo replied back with a roll of the eyes. "And I'm your noona still, by the way," she added.

Felix and Changbin watched a few steps behind as Minho was trying to convince Jihyo to give him two boxes that were for him and Woojin, which Jihyo refused to do because it was one boxed lunch per student present. Thankfully, their friend Chaeyeon waved them over to the far end of the table to give them their lunch.

Changbin handed his card over first for Chaeyeon to scan. "Do you think Hyung will get the two boxes?"

Chaeyeon shrugged as she handed back Changbin's student card before turning her back to grab the lunch box. "Probably, knowing how persistent he is." They snickered together before Felix reached over from behind Changbin to hand over his card as well. 

As Chaeyeon was scanning his card, Felix heard something—or rather  _ saw _ something—extraordinary. He was in disbelief when he saw it when he heard an unfamiliar humming, rubbing his eyes to make sure he wasn’t imagining things. But his eyes were, in fact, not tricking him. Felix saw  _ the _ orange. Frazzled that he couldn’t identify where the colour was coming from, he was shaken out of his trance when Chaeyeon handed him his box. He thanked his friend before walking away from the tables with Changbin off to the side.

He scanned around the table to see who was present and saw a few of the council members present, upset he couldn’t see the orange colour anymore. Changbin nudged him. “Hey, if you’re looking for Minho, I think he’s convincing Noona that she should either give him two boxes or treat him out on a date,” he snickered. Felix looked over, forcing a laugh to make it seem that he was paying attention to Changbin, but his friend knows better. “Hm, guess you weren’t looking for Minho.”

“I saw it,” Felix exhaled, gripping his box tightly.

Changbin blinked. “Saw… what, exactly?”

“The orange! I saw the orange—the one that my violin makes!”

“So… someone actually stole your violin?”

“Wha— no!” Felix scrunched his nose as the two of them silently agreed to leave Minho behind and go find a place to sit in the food court area. “I meant that someone's voice gives off the exact colour that my violin produces." Felix stopped when he noticed Changbin blink dumbfoundedly at him as he opened the lunch box up. Felix shook his head disregard as he opened his own box. "Nevermind, you wouldn't understand."

Changbin watched as Felix neatly took out the contents of the box before sighing. "No, I wouldn't understand. But I can see your excitement nonetheless." Felix looked up at Changbin's hopeful smile. "I hope you get to find out who owns that voice."

"Wow, that is no way to treat your hyung," Minho barked as he marched to the table proudly as he held three lunch boxes against his chest. "Leaving me there to fend for myself… the audacity…"

Changbin shrugged as he unwrapped the kimbap in aluminium before stuffing one of the rolls into his mouth. "You seemed to fend yourself pretty well," he concluded.

"How did you even manage to get three boxes?" Felix added as he watched Minho pull up a chair from another table to their table and unstack the boxes.

"Well, one's for me, one's for Woojin, and I just got an extra one because I told Jihyo noona she owes me for that favour I did for her at the party two weeks ago."

"What favour?" Changbin and Felix asked in unison. They grimaced at the inkling Minho cheekily showed on his face as he smiled and winked at them as he unravelled his own kimbap. 

"Anyway," Minho hummed as he chewed rather loudly, "what were we talking about?"

"Felix said that he saw someone's voice that looked like his violin's," Changbin said as he wiped his mouth with a napkin before eating another roll. "Said he couldn't find out who that voice belonged to though."

"Oh, neat," Minho blinked intrigued. He laughed when Felix nudged him. "No, seriously! That's pretty cool. It could be your soulmate or something, right?"

"It could be your soulmate or something, right?" Felix mimicked in a higher pitch to mock his friend.

"C'mon!" Minho scrunched his nose as he pushed Felix's chair with his right foot. 

"That's besides the point. I need to find out whose voice that is."

—

Jeongin groaned as he pulled the hoodie over his head as he sluggishly followed behind Felix. “You know,” he coughed, “most people our age would be going to parties and getting piss drunk instead of going to the grocery store on a Friday night.”

Felix ignored his younger friend’s whines as he grabbed the grocery cart and headed inside. “Oh shush, it’s not like we ever go to those parties anyway.”

“At least I have the potential to,” Jeongin scrunched his nose as he walked beside Felix as he handed over his phone to display the grocery list. “All you do is practice Mozart on your violin, eat Tim Tams, and suck at Mario Kart.”

"First of all," Felix lifted a finger in enlightenment, "I am playing Mendelssohn." He cleared his throat. “And I’m not  _ that _ bad at Mario Kart,” Felix frowned as he headed towards the snack aisle to get the Tim Tams that Jeongin mentioned. Jeongin raised an eyebrow as Felix looked at him. “Okay fine,” Felix sighed in defeat, “I stink. But, hey, you admit that Tim Tams are good too!” Jeongin nodded and shrugged and played with the strings of his hoodie before he yelped when he ran into Felix’s back.

Felix turned around to Jeongin and told him to stay quiet, puzzling Jeongin. Looking past his friend, Jeongin noticed that someone else was in the aisle in front of them also getting Tim Tams. “Oh,” Jeongin blinked. “Isn’t that Chan hyung?”

Hearing his name, Chan looked over and saw the two who were standing awkwardly close to each other a few meters away from him. He gave them a wave and Jeongin waved back, making Felix flustered. Thankfully, Jeongin ignored Felix and walked passed him to greet Chan properly. He dapped Chan and then started having small talk with him as Felix was trying to regain his composure.

He wasn’t exactly sure why he always seemed to want to run away when he saw Chan, especially the fact that this would only be his second time seeing him. But Felix wasn’t exactly a social butterfly like Jeongin. Mingling, in general, was difficult for him. (That’s probably why he always made excuses to practice his violin, since that didn’t require any human interaction, he thought.)

Jeongin eyed Felix and nudged his head, motioning Felix to say hi to Chan. Felix shyly walked over and offered his hand to Chan for a handshake, taken aback when Chan slapped his hand for a high-five before pulling Felix in to hug his back quickly. Felix was shaken at the gesture as he had a culture shock that he was the only one who didn't do that amongst his peers.

"It's interesting to see you without your violin," Chan hummed in observation. 

Felix coughed and nodded quietly in reply. He was quite baffled that Chan remembers that he plays the violin despite only meeting him once or twice. "Yeah… I give him a break on Friday nights."

"Oh, does it go out to party on Fridays?" Chan jokes. Felix laughed along sheepishly while Jeongin whined at how cheesy that joke played out. "I'm just getting some snacks."

"Yeah? Those are the same snacks that Felix hyung binge eats at our dorm," Jeongin interjects before squealing when Felix elbowed him in his gut.

"Ah," Felix looked away to break awkward eye contact as he tried to look at the items on the shelves and the tiled floors. "I used to eat them a lot at home…"

"Are you Australian too?" Chan blinked in disbelief. He gasped and the corners of his mouth tilted into a smile when Felix nodded his head slightly. "Oh, wow, it's so nice to find another Aussie," Chan sighed in relief.

Noticing the smile, Felix smiled back at him, feeling a bit timid at the fact that Chan had a really nice and bright smile. They began talking about their favourite Australian snacks and a few restaurants that they liked back home. It was probably the first real conversation that Felix had with Chan and he felt surprisingly comfortable talking to him. Often times, it's hard for Felix to talk to new people, let alone someone who he's only encountered a number of times. 

He almost forgot the reason he came to the grocery store before Jeongin got revenge and pushed a pack of Tim Tams to Felix's stomach and patted his back with his free hand.

"C'mon, hyung," Jeongin hummed tugging at Felix's sleeve. "We have a Mario Kart game to finish. Or rather one where I finish in first and you don't even cross the finish line," he teased. Chan laughed along, causing Felix to blush slightly. 

After bidding them farewell, Chan walked away towards the opposite side of the aisle as Jeongin practically dragged Felix to the self check-out aisle to pay for his snacks. "Wow, you're so awkward when you're with your crush…"

Felix blinked up at Jeongin with wide eyes as he scanned the snack pack. "Wha— I do not have a crush on him!"

Jeongin looked at Felix with a deadpan expression. "Hyung… you are so obvious it's painful." He rolled his eyes when Felix grumbled and swiped his debit through the card reader before grabbing the Tim Tams and headed out the door, purposely moving faster than Jeongin.

Jeongin caught up with him and scrunched his nose as they exited through the doors back outside into the cooler and darker atmosphere. They were on their way back to their dorm on a relatively quiet walk before Jeongin looked at his older friend in curiosity. "What colour is his voice?"

"Pardon?" Felix looked over at Jeongin.

"You see colours of people's voices too, right? Not just when they sing. What colour is Chan hyung's voice?" Jeongin waited for an answer and saw that Felix was deep in concentration, trying to recall. "Don't tell me you were so flustered that you didn't see the colour…"

Felix nudged Jeongin away from him playfully before he sighed. "I… I don't remember the exact colour, but it was a warm colour. His voice wasn't as clear as the other times I've talked to him—it was a bit raspy tonight—so the colour wasn't as vibrant. It was hard to make out, honestly."

Jeongin whistled. "That's a bummer. Imagine if that was the voice you were looking for the other day. The one that matched the colour of your violin. That would've been cool." He saw Felix shrug in an effort to seem like he wasn't interested but Jeongin knew his friend better. He hummed, "Who knows… maybe it just might be him."

—

“Felix?” Jihyo blinked as she opened the door to the SGA office. It was about seven in the evening when Felix knocked on the door after awkwardly attempting to open it despite the fact it was locked. She noticed how frozen and timid he seemed. She pulled out her phone to check the time before looking up at him. “Hey, we’re about to close shop. Do you need something?”

“Uh…” Felix coughed before rubbing the back of his neck. His other hand was gripping the handle of his violin case securely. “Do you guys have… those free academic planners?”

Jihyo looked at Felix dumbfoundedly. “The ones we give out at the beginning of the school year?”

Felix blushed sheepishly, realizing that the semester was almost halfway over, but decided to go along with his improv excuse anyway. “Yeah… I lost mine. And I need another one.”

Despite the situation, Jihyo agreed. She let Felix into the office as she went over to the back room to get a planner. “Let me see if I can find one,” she yelled as her voice fainted with the distance. 

He realizes that this is probably the worst time to go looking for Chan, but it was his only option as he usually practices in the music department for a majority of his daily schedule. He also didn't actually know if Chan would be in the office at this time, especially since a majority of the student center is basically empty anyway.

Felix stood there looking around. It was the first time he’s ever been in this office. It seemed as though it were for the faculty as there were many cubicle desks, stationery, and printers surrounding him. Not to mention, there were a lot of flyers and papers scattered around (some neatly organized into stacks, some sloppily sprawled on tables. He thought it was pretty amazing that the SGA has their own official office and work area.

He looked up after skimming through some flyers nearby when he heard a noise, expecting to see Jihyo with the planner. Only, he didn’t see Jihyo.

“Oh… hello,” Chan said taken aback. “I thought I heard Jihyo talking to someone. Guess that would be you.”

Bashfully, Felix nodded his head. He remembered seeing Chan when they were distributing free lunches at the student center a few days ago and seeing him in that grocery store by chance. He also recalled that Chan seemed to be the only male on the SGA board. “Y-yeah, that would be me.”

“What brings you here?” Chan asked. “It’s pretty late, I don’t really expect students to come by here unless they wanted to steal pens or something,” he joked with a chuckle. 

Felix tried to force a chuckle out as well, but opted not to and just smiled awkwardly. He didn't want to admit that he has been on campus thus long to practice his newest Mendelssohn piece he chose for his performance in the upcoming semester. He also didn't want to admit he was staying quiet so he can see the colour of Chan's voice to see if it was a match to the beautiful orange colour. Felix was upset that he wasn’t able to tell the colour of Chan’s talking voice, which is a first time for him—he always sees the colours of talking voices. It’s only slightly different from someone’s singing voice.

Chan depicted this situation as Felix acting shy around him. He coughed to get his attention. “Is Jihyo getting you something?”

“Y-yeah!” Felix replied, a little too enthusiastically and a little too loud. “She’s getting me a planner.”

“You need a planner halfway into the semester?”

Felix scrunched his nose. He whined to himself internally after realizing how foolish that fake excuse was when it was said aloud. “B-because I lost mine,” he timidly replied.

Before Chan could reply, Jihyo came from the back room with two planners in hand. “Alright,” she sighed as she placed them on the table as she stood next to Felix. “This one is for the replacement you lost,” she hummed before handing Felix the two planners, “and the other one is so that you have a replacement if you lose the first replacement,” she snickered.

Rolling his eyes, a bit flustered, Felix just nodded and smiled at his noona before shyly waving at Chan as he left the office. Chan smiled kindly and waved back, eyeing Felix's violin before he left through the door.

As Felix was heading back to his dorm, still carrying the planners in hand, he shook his head and sighed to himself. “Gosh, I really am a fool in front of him.” He was upset that he seemed to be an awkward and quiet fool to Chan, but he wasn’t sure why.

Even if Chan wasn't the owner of that beautiful orange voice, Felix still felt some sort of connection to Chan. Maybe it actually was a crush, like Jeongin had suggested the other night. But, then again, he still barely knows Chan. Is that even possible? Felix hasn't been the type to develop crushes due to his practice (his whole life was basically revolved around practicing). 

Changbin had mentioned once that Chan was interested in music, but he didn't pursue a degree in it like Changbin had. However, Changbin said Chan had his reasons and his music skills aren't to be dismissed. Nevertheless, he wanted to know Chan on a deeper level.

—

It wasn't normal for Felix to be out late at night unless he was staying overnight at the music department (which actually isn't allowed due to liability reasons) or playing Mario Party at Jisung's dorm. However, this night was out of the ordinary.

Felix was being dragged by the arm by Jisung as they were walking across campus. Looking around sheepishly, Felix walked faster to catch up to Jisung before he shivered a bit from the wind that blew their direction. "Why am I doing this, again?"

"I'm doing you a favour," Jisung hummed. "Chan hyung is at this party and Jeongin told me you had a crush on him. So I'm playing wingman!" He laughed as Felix whined loudly. "Dude, relax! It's not even going to be that crazy."

They arrived to the party location, which was the fraternity house a few blocks off campus where their friend, Woojin, resides. It's known for being the party house, and Felix has always known that his friends frequently went there whenever there was a party. Woojin was a good host, he heard, and usually just made sure nobody got hurt or threw up on the floor.

However, when Woojin opened the door, Felix saw the overwhelming number of colours shoot out towards him. He heard the loud bass coming from what seemed to be a makeshift DJ station with a laptop, two large speakers, and a single turntable. Woojin patted Felix's back after high-fiving Jisung as they entered.

"Didn't expect you to come," Woojin screamed over the music and background voices. Felix nodded at Woojin, showing he was a bit overwhelmed by such a culture shock. He stuck close to Woojin as Jisung already ran into the crowd. "You're okay, right?"

"Huh?" Felix asked, practically screaming as Woojin led him to the kitchen with an arm around his neck.

In the kitchen, the music seemed to die down a little (not fully, but enough for Felix to bear it). With a sigh of relief, Woojin smiled. "Here, I'll make you a drink." Felix followed Woojin and caught Minho talking to Jihyo in the back corner. Felix raised an eyebrow before turning to Woojin. "Oh yeah, they've been at that since Minho came here," he started as he was pouring the club soda into the cup. "Saw her kissing some other guy and he wanted to confront her."

"Dang."

Woojin nodded. "See? This is why I'm not into that sort of thing. I'm just here to hang with my friends and have a drink or two." He handed over Felix the "house special" drink that didn't reek too heavily of alcohol, so Felix considered it a good thing. 

"You don't get piss-drunk like the rest of the guys, hyung?" Felix asked as he sipped the drink. It was bearable and wasn't as strong as Felix anticipated so he figured he could continue drinking on it.

"Oh, hell no," Woojin laughed. "I don't trust any of these drunk dumbasses in my house. It's bad enough my brothers and littles get super drunk, I can't have visitors destroying this house."

Felix laughed and continued to talk to Woojin. He was happy that he had one friend he could depend on in these unfamiliar situations. He felt comfortable enough to share his predicament with Chan. They moved away from the kitchen after Minho seemed to get into a heated argument with another guy named Daniel. Out on the back porch, there were a few guys who were casually drinking and chatting, so Woojin decided it was a good place to talk.

"Ooooh, Bang Chan, huh?" Woojin hummed knowingly. He laughed when Felix whined and chugged his second glass of the drink. "Oh, relax. I'm not like Jisung. Still, I think that Chan is a good person to crush on. He's very likeable and has a good character."

"But… I'm worried that I'm falling for him because of the wrong reasons…"

"Oh, because he might have that golden voice you're looking for?"

Felix was about to reply when a loud and frantically sobbing Hyunjin slammed the porch door open. Felix, Woojin, and the other bystanders watched as Hyunjin ran into the backyard and threw up in the nearby bushes. Following behind him was a groaning Chan. "I told you to stop with those soju shots!"

Woojin gave Felix a wink before running over to help Chan out. Felix wasn't sure what to do in this situation, but he observed how the other two were helping Hyunjin. He smiles when he sees Chan rubbing and patting Hyunjin's back attentively as Woojin was groaning and trying to calm Hyunjin down. It was endearing to see Chan in such a caretaker position, especially since he hasn't seen this side of him before.

When Felix realized that Chan was coming back and Woojin was staying with Hyunjin, he quickly downed his drink, finishing it before Chan was on the back porch.

Chan took a deep breath and shook his head. He turned to see Felix who froze in his spot. Chan smiled. "Fancy seeing you here," he joked. "I thought your violin was the only one that partied." Felix laughed at the joke, genuinely thinking it was funny.

"Jisung dragged me here," Felix admitted. "I'm giving my violin a rest."

Chan snapped his fingers. "Oh, shoot! I need to look for Jisung. I left him with Changbin but I know Changbin's going to leave early. Help me find him?"

Felix was caught off guard with such an offer. He wasn't sure if it was the alcohol kicking in or if he wanted to spend more time with Chan, but he agreed to help.

They walked back into the party and Felix squinted, still being a little overwhelmed with all the colours he could see. He unknowingly grabbed the sleeve of Chan's sweater and followed him as he saw a lot of purples and pinks in the atmosphere. He noticed that most of the voices that he passed by were in the cooler tones. However, again, Felix noticed that he couldn’t see Chan’s voice colour, even as he said hello to everyone he bypassed.

Chan stopped and made his way upstairs after one of their friends, Dahyun, notified him that Jisung was in the upstairs bathroom. With a grunt, Chan walked up the stairs, looking behind him to make sure Felix was still following him. He smiled before turning back and Felix’s cheeks warmed up. He wasn’t even sure why the simple action of Chan making sure that Felix was still following him made Felix flustered. 

Once they reached the top of the stairs, they heard a vomiting noise in the bathroom and they both groaned, realizing that it was Jisung after hearing the whines. Chan opened the door and Felix peaked behind his back to see a drunk Jisung clinging onto the toilet seat for dear life as his cheek rested on his right hand. Jisung lifted his head up and gave a weak smile. “Oh hyung,” he giggled. “Funny seeing you here. Did you get taller?”

“Oh my gosh,” Chan exhaled, “he doesn’t even realize he’s drunk. Felix watched as Chan knelt down and pulled Jisung’s jacket off that reeked of vomit. When Jisung felt the need to throw up again, Chan pulled back Jisung’s hair from his face so that he wouldn’t accidentally throw up on it. Judging from how calm Chan was, Felix knew that this wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. However, he did feel awkward since he wasn’t doing anything. 

He pulled at the toilet paper on the other wall and ran it quickly under the sink water before handing it to Chan to clean off Jisung’s mouth. Chan blinked up at Felix who was shyly holding it over for him. He smiled and thanked Felix before using it to wipe Jisung’s mouth. Felix smiled, knowing that he helped Chan. He helped someone he was watching in admiration.

He helped his crush.

  
  


Chan and Felix managed to drag Jisung into the nearest bedroom (presumably Woojin’s, on account of how tidy the room seemed) and pushed him onto the bed. Jisung ended up falling asleep at the toilet and almost dunked his head into his own vomit, so Chan decided to put Jisung in a better, more hygenic, place. Chan and Felix sat at the foot of the bed together and sighed in unison. They looked at each other and shared a chuckle.

“This is your first party, huh?” Chan asked. When Felix nodded, Chan just snickered and looked down at his hands as he was still wiping off the excess sweat after pulling Jisung. “Yeah… sorry that you had to experience this… this is pretty normal for parties, but it’s usually me and Woojin that deal with these situations.”

“I didn’t really mind,” Felix shook his head. Chan looked up, and Felix felt the muscles in his body tense up. “Uh,” he coughed, “it was nice that you helped Jisung out like this. I hope he can repay you.”

“Oh, if he were to repay me for all the times I’ve done this,” Chan pointed to Jisung passed out and snoring on Woojin’s bed, “I’d have his life.” Felix laughed at Chan’s joke and Chan smiled. Chan nudged Felix as he stood up. “C’mon. I think Jisung will be alright. Let’s head back down?” Felix stood up slowly and nodded timidly. Chan read Felix’s body language and shook his head. “Actually, how about I show you the balcony on this floor? It’s got a nice view. It’s much quieter too.” Felix nodded immediately and followed behind Chan who smiled in relief, knowing that Felix felt more comfortable with that idea.

Chan led him down the corridor to the end of the hall and opened the door. The cold breeze greeted them and they both shivered at the initial touch. Walking over and leaning over the balcony railing, Felix was amazed at how beautiful the blend of the campus and the surrounding town looked at night. It wasn’t often that Felix got to see his surroundings from this viewpoint, let alone in general. 

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Chan hummed as he leaned his arms against the railing. 

Felix rested his chin on his hands that cupped the railing and nodded. “Never seen the town like this before.”

“If you ignore the yelling and loud music underneath us, yeah, it’s really a phenomena to take in,” Chan grinned. He looked over at Felix. “So… I realize we don’t really know each other and you just helped me drag our drunk friend around. We should get to know each other by now, huh?”

Felix looked over and nodded. He wasn’t sure where this sense of self-confidence came from, but Felix rolled with it as he realized the golden opportunity at hand. He tried to act cool about it though with a shrug. “Uh, there isn’t much about me really. I just play the violin and suck at video games, as Jeongin mentioned.”

Chan laughed. “Well, to be fair, Jeongin is a  _ beast _ at video games. Anyone would lose to him.” Felix nodded in agreement. “Violin though, huh? Is that your major?”

“Yeah. Performance major and all.”

Chan whistled. “Tough?” Felix nodded again, with a groan this time. Chan snickered. “I think the music department in general is difficult to get into, let alone stay in. Changbin talks about it all the time and how he gets into fights with the occasional pianist who wants the practice room he’s in.” He looked over at Felix who was groaning at the thought of how often he, himself, fought Changbin for a practice room. “I think it’s admirable though,” Chan continued. He looked back into the atmosphere and surrounding area and sighed. “It’s tough, but I think it’s worthwhile chasing something you’re passionate about.”

“What about you, hyung?” Felix asked.

Chan looked over. “Me?”

“Yeah, you read me pretty well. I don’t know anything about you still.”

At the realization, it was Chan’s turn to blush slightly. “Ah, well, I think you’re much more interesting than me. I’m an accounting major. I work for the SGA. I take care of drunk friends. That’s about it.”

Felix was a bit taken aback from the fact that Chan was an accounting major. He remembered that Changbin mentioned that Chan was good at music, but he didn’t even pursue anything having to do with it. Not even something in the liberal arts department. “Accounting?” Felix asked. 

Chan nodded. “It’s the safest career path. Every company needs an accountant.” Felix nodded slowly and looked away, trying to assess if Chan even owned that orange voice he saw weeks ago. He knows it’s a bit stereotypical to say that someone in the business department can be talented in music, but it was just highly unlikely. Maybe Felix was just making everything up in his head.

That  _ was _ until Chan started humming to himself as he looked out into the open and Felix saw a trace of that orange colour. He quickly turned to Chan in disbelief and was shocked to see that not only did Chan stop humming, but he saw Chan looking  _ directly _ at him. Felix’s cheeks grew warm once again and he coughed. “Sorry,” he apologized after making too-direct eye contact. 

“You’re good,” Chan smiled. “Sorry to disrupt your train of thoughts with my  _ horrible _ humming.” Felix turned back to Chan with raised eyebrows and wide eyes. Chan noticed and shrugged. “Ah… sorry, I don’t really like my voice. That’s all.”

—

Felix groaned in frustration as he placed his violin bow on the music stand and sat down on the chair behind him. He held his violin in its proper resting position as he pulled the sheet music to his lap, rereading the annotations he wrote on it. It was upsetting that no matter how hard he tried, he always had a problem with the page he was working on. Whether it be the bow stroke, or an accidental he missed, or not playing at a steady tempo, something was so  _ off _ that Felix was doing so poorly. The colours his violin producing weren’t that beautiful and vibrant orange he was used to hearing.

He decided to take a break. Perhaps Felix is just stressing himself out too much on account that he’s almost done perfecting the piece before he has to memorize it. That usually happened to him whenever he was at that stage in his practice. Pulling out his phone, he rested his violin in his lap and scrolled through his social media, only to get a notification text from Chan.

Felix smiled and responded back to Chan saying that he was still practicing but he was free after the practice rooms were locked down. That was still a few hours ahead of him, but Felix was glad to see that Chan still wanted to hang out afterwards.

It’s been like this for a while: Chan and Felix have been hanging out to Felix’s convenience on account his schedule was much fuller and more sporadic than Chan’s. Chan didn’t seem to mind though. He usually wanted at the front entrance of the music department for Felix and they headed out together to wherever the night took them. This new routine was very different for Felix. But he grew to like it. Usually, Felix would just head straight back to his shared dorm room with Jeongin and turn in for the night. He also usually stayed overtime in the practice rooms until one of the custodians notices him still there.

Despite his usual rather ‘boring’ routine, this new ‘exciting’ one was pretty invigorating, especially because Felix got to spend it with Chan. He knows they have mutual friends, and from what their friends have said, Felix did note that Chan did seem like a good person to hang out with. But hanging out with Chan for himself, it was even better than he had expected.

Chan was a good person, just as he had shown at the frat party a few weeks prior. He often let waited for Felix whenever Felix seemed to walk slower than him, he held Felix back whenever they crossed the street and a car zoomed past them, and he always paid for Felix whenever they went out to eat, even when Felix kept insisting he had his own money to pay for himself. Chan was also very knowledgeable. Felix didn’t really expect to hear vast and details stories about the history of the world wars along their walk to the grocery store to grab more Tim Tams nor did he expect to learn about Korean liberation, but he found the way Chan explained it was all very not only fascinating but endearing.

Felix always pointed out that Chan seemed to know a lot, to which he humbly replied that he was just very curious about the world. He admired that about Chan, how he wasn’t afraid to see what the world had to offer.

However, he still heard that statement that Chan said during that frat party ring in his head.

_  
_ _“...I don’t really like my voice. That’s all.”_

It wasn’t long until Felix’s friends began to realize what was unfolding in front of them. Changbin and Jisung were always the type to tease, so obviously they didn’t miss the opportunity to tease Felix. Jeongin would usually join in, but he opted out because he saw that the other two were doing enough work already. 

Fortunately, Felix wasn’t with any of them today. He was out with Hyunjin and Seungmin at this time, both of whom he finally confessed allowed of his crush on Chan. He was thankful that they didn’t start ooh-ing or making kissing noises at him. Hyunjin and Seungmin watched quietly and just observed Felix who seemed quite dazed with the situation at hand. They weren’t necessarily the teasing type, but they weren’t the best at giving advice either; that was usually for their older friends.

“So, what? Are you going to confess?” Hyunjin blinked. He sipped the bubble tea in front of him and grimaced, realizing that he sipped Seungmin’s drink instead.

Seungmin rolled his eyes and switched the cups that were beside each other so that Hyunjin wouldn’t get confused again. After Hyunjin happily drank his drink, Seungmin sighed. “I mean, why not? I think it’s a good time to. You’re both much closer to each other and you talk almost on a daily basis. It shouldn’t be a hassle to further your relationship, in my opinion.”

Felix swirled the tapioca bubbles in his milk tea anxiously and shrugged. He took a large sip before placing it on the table, to which Hyunjin reached over and grabbed to taste the flavour Felix chose. “I don’t think it’s that simple,” Felix sighed. “This is my first… crush.”

Hyunjin cooed. Felix kicked him under the table, causing Hyunjin to wail. “Hey! No, seriously! That’s pretty cute. Your first crush and all. And it’s  _ Chan _ for crying out loud. That’s a good first crush to have,” Hyunjin nodded.

“Well,” Seungmin coughed, “I know it can be pretty scary since he is your first crush and all… but I think that even if you talk to him about it, he will talk about it with you maturely, whether he rejects or accepts your confession.”

Hyunjin slapped Seungmin’s shoulder and Seungmin hissed. “Hey, that’s no way to encourage our friend!”

“I’m being realistic!” Seungmin exclaimed in defense.

While the two of them were bickering amongst themselves, Felix began to draw back into his own world. He sipped on his milk tea slowly and sat with his own thoughts.

To be honest, Seungmin was probably right: it would be easy to talk to Chan about this just from how he seemed to handle topics and conversations. However, Felix was still anxious, mostly about one thing: that orange voice. After connecting the dots himself, Felix did conclude that Chan was the owner of that beautifully rich and vibrant orange voice. However, that’s just where the internal problem for Felix struck: Does he like Chan for Chan or does he like Chan in the fact that he liked his orange voice?

He didn’t want to admit how infatuated he was whenever he  _ did _ hear a snippet of Chan humming and saw that orange voice that mimicked his violin. It was beautiful. The most beautiful colour he could ever hear and Felix was able to witness it from his violin and his crush. But was that the real reason he was so attracted to Chan? Because he was so attracted to that orange voice? To that colour? That sense of familiarity? That beauty?

This series of questions began to linger on in Felix’s mind and continue to weigh down his shoulders. It’s not that it made him less interested in Chan, but it fogged up his thoughts so much that it interrupted his practicing.

Felix often grew more frustrated with himself in the practice room that he began practicing less. He knew this was bad, especially because he was beginning to memorize his piece for his performance next semester. He was actually way behind schedule, which in turn caused his intonation to be out of tune. Felix got the bow strokes, note patterns, and accidentals down, but when it came to the tune, he couldn’t get it.

This was even more upsetting on account that he didn’t even see the orange colour that his violin produced at this point. It was a lot of mute yellows and harsh reds that didn’t make any attractive orange colour that he was so used to. 

Felix knew he placed this upon himself, especially after his constant thoughts of being too into the colour orange and being too afraid of liking Chan for the wrong reasons.

He often stayed in his bedroom with his violin resting inside its case beside him on the mattress. Felix ignored the texts from Chan or often replied to it with sparse one worded texts back. He gave the excuse that he was just stressed over his music piece, but it upset him whenever Chan offered to treat Felix out to relieve that stress.

Chan was such a good guy. Felix knew Chan was such a good guy. Chan was likable, he was knowledgeable, he was charming, he was cute, he was caring, he was sweet, he would make an ideal partner for anyone. Why couldn’t Felix shake off these feelings of guilt off of himself?

—

It was about two weeks without talking to Chan and avoiding seeing him completely that Felix was finally able to calm himself down with his thoughts. However, his violin playing continued to suffer. Even after asking his colleagues and professors if his playing was alright and even after the applauded him, Felix thought he wasn’t good enough. He knew he could sound better because he knew that the orange his violin usually produces wasn’t coming out in the sound.

It was frustrating, and Felix was beginning to have enough of it. He started doubting his playing abilities and even his hearing abilities. Maybe his eyes were tricking him because he couldn’t see the vivid colours his violin produced. Maybe his violin was just incompatible with him now. He’s changed its strings as needed and tuned it as diligently as he usually does, but it still just sounded  _ different _ . 

Felix sat in his chair and sipped a bottle of water that he had bought from the vending machine earlier before he walked into the practice room. He looked over at his case where he laid his violin down after a much disheartened practice session. 

Felix was stressed to say the least. There was a lot he was going through with the semester coming to an end, his performance date coming closer, and not to mention the exams in his other classes that were coming up as well. He also just hasn’t been having enough free time for himself because of his stress with practicing. It’s been a couple of weeks, maybe even a month, since he’s seen his friends. He hasn’t even played Mario Kart with Jeongin in two weeks.

Everything was piling up on Felix. It was overwhelming. Somehow, Felix managed to project all of his stressful emotions onto his violin. For the past two to three months, he hasn’t been looking at his violin in admiration, but rather resentment. He’s begun to feel adrift from it, especially since it seemed to stop cooperate with him during their practices together. Felix couldn’t shake it out of his head that maybe it’s the actual cause of all of the internal stress he had been going through.

If it wasn’t for his violin producing that dumb and enchanting orange sound in the first place, maybe he would have never encountered Chan, he would have never been infatuated with that voice, he would have never gotten close to him, he would have never started to doubt himself and push Chan away, he would have never been so confused in his life. He grimaced at his violin in disgust. Felix began to feel the heat of rage in his body disperse. 

Standing up, Felix reached over to his violin. He held its bottom against his stomach as he began tuning the strings lower than usual, releasing the pressure from the pegs and the fine tuners. His nose was scrunched in concentration as he was doing so, plucking the strings to make sure they weren’t in tune. Afterwards, he pulled the kun off of the back and harshly tossed it back into the case, causing the case to shut itself abruptly. 

He sighed as he looked at his violin, spinning it as he held it in front of him before he turned it upside down so that the body was up and the scroll was facing downward. He grasped the neck of the violin with his hands in fists and spotted a nearby patch of open floor as a target. Felix never in his life expected to perform such a heinous crime, but he justified it with desperate times call for desperate measures.

Felix was so out-of-tune with his surroundings that he didn’t even notice Chan opening the door and gasping at the shocking scene. He immediately reached over and tightly held Felix’s wrist and looked at Felix, calling his name as he seemed to be in a daze. Chan even tried to shake Felix to get him back into reality. Eventually, Felix managed to come back in tune with himself and blinked surprisingly when he saw Chan in front of him. He looked at him confused until he realized the position he was in with his violin in the air and his stance ready to slam it into the ground. The wave of realization and shock hit Felix fast and he quickly fell to the floor. Thankfully, Chan was able to hold the violin when Felix collapsed and safely put it back in its case.

Kneeling down, Chan slowly patted Felix’s shoulder as Felix was curled up in a fetal position and sniffling to himself. Chan looked around and grabbed the box of tissues on the nearby table against the wall. He pulled a few out of the box before putting it beside Felix. Chan used the ones he pulled to wipe the part of Felix’s cheek he didn’t hide with his arms. 

Felix felt a little embarrassed that he was in such a vulnerable state, especially in front of Chan. He tilted his chin slightly so Chan had easier access to wipe the tears running down. Chan smiled and let out a soft chuckle at the action. Felix heard it and his breathing began to go back to a normal pace.

After managing to calm down, Felix stretched himself out. Chan was still patiently next to him kneeling down. Felix blushed a bit before rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “S-sorry you had to see that…”

Chan shook his head. “Nothing to apologize for. You were obviously just very stressed,” Chan smiled encouragingly. Felix blushed even harder and whined. He pulled his knees back towards his chest and hugged them tightly close to his body. Chan noticed and decided to sit down next to him. He crossed his legs and leaned his elbows against his knees as he observed Felix. “I’m assuming… your stress was why we haven’t been hanging out as often.” Felix looked up and was about to open his mouth but Chan shook his head again. “You don’t need to apologize for that either. I guess… I would have liked an explanation rather than be ghosted.”

Felix pouted guiltily. He shook his head. “No, I think I should apologize,” Felix sighed. “I wasn’t being fair to you… I wasn’t thinking about you at all…”

“You had to take care of yourself, that’s understandable,” Chan justified. “I would have wanted you to take care of yourself too.”

Felix tilted his head to look at Chan and he looked at him surprised. “You… you would?” 

“Yeah,” Chan nodded. “I care about you, Felix,” he confessed. Felix gasped louder than he had anticipated and quickly covered his mouth with both of his hands, causing Chan to laugh heartily. “Oh, gosh. You don’t have to be startled by that. It’s true.”

Felix shyly protruded his bottom lip. “I… I care about you too,” he conveyed back. Chan smiled but Felix noticed how his cheeks began to get rosy as well. Felix let out a small sigh with a little smile. “I guess… you deserve to know. I was afraid to like you for the wrong reasons.” Chan looked at Felix with concern and full attention. “I just… look, so I have synesthesia, right? I heard you humming when I went to get those free lunches from SGA and your voice… it matched the tone of my violin.”

Chan leaned slightly back astonished. He looked over at Felix’s violin that was resting in its case before quickly turning back to Felix. “Really?” 

Felix nodded. He loosened his grip over his legs and let them stretch out on the floor again once more. He inhaled a big gulp of air. “Yeah… and it was… infatuating—to say the least. But then I got to know you,” Felix quickly made eye contact with Chan but realized that was too intimate for him that he quickly broke it off, “and I seemed like… being with you...beyond your voice.” He shook his head and ruffled his hair. “Sorry, I probably sound like an idiot. I haven’t really had a crush before and… this is all very overwhelming to me.”

Chan let the silence fill the air so that they could both meditate on Felix’s words. Felix was dazed in the fact that he not only almost broke his violin but he also just spewed that all out to Chan, the person he did not expect to vent to. Chan, on the other hand, seemed very calm in the silence. Felix seemed to notice and rather than feel tension in the air, he felt a sense of relief.

After a good minute or two of silence, Chan cleared his throat. “Um… how anticlimactic would it be if I told you that I knew.”

Felix’s eyes widened. “You knew?”

Chan nodded. “Yeah, about your synesthesia.” He leaned back as his hands rested on the floor. “I have it too,” Chan confessed. He noticed the shocked expression on Felix’s face and couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. “Gosh, you’re cute,” he sighed. “Yeah, it’s true. I have it too. The only person who knows is Changbin.”

“Is that why… is that why he said you’re very musically inclined?”

“He said that about me?” Chan asked. He rolled his eyes. “I told him to stop saying such nonsense about me.” He still saw the confusion on Felix’s face and he nodded. “Okay, yeah, let me back track,” he coughed. “I used to be a music major. I was a singing major, actually.” Slowly, the lightbulb in Felix’s head turned on, and Chan smiled when Felix understood the realization. “I guess… I don’t know,” he shrugged, “I was never satisfied with my voice because it didn’t produce the colour I wanted it to. So I just switched.”

“What colour did you want it to produce?”

Chan looked at Felix and smiled. “The colour that yours produces. Navy blue.”

After much discussion, Felix felt more at ease with himself. Not only with the fact that Chan had accepted Felix’s feelings since it was mutual, but the fact that Chan understood exactly where Felix’s worries were coming from.

Felix knew that his violin produced the loveliest, richest, most vibrant orange sound that he has ever seen before. He knows of its potential and of its capabilities. But Felix also knows that his violin was valuable to him because, regardless of what colour it played, it was his violin. Felix held so many memories with his violin as its been a part of himself for over ten years. He cherished his violin whether or not it produced the orange sound he was looking for because he loved his violin. 

And Felix cherishes Chan just as much.

**Author's Note:**

> Shoutout to the admins for organizing and implementing this fic fest, to the other writers for all your blood/sweat/tears (quite literally at points), to all the people I beta-ed for (yall were inspiring to me!), and to my partner for encouraging me along the way!


End file.
